The Council for the Regulation of Freight Forwarding in Nigeria (CRFFN) has said that 16 education service providers and 100 trained facilitators have been accredited by the Council to provide training for Nigerian freight forwarders.
Registrar of CRFFN, Barrister Samuel Nwakohu stated this last week when addressing board members of the council at its 22nd Governing Council Meeting held in Marina, Lagos.
He informed the meeting of the recently signed Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the University of Lagos (UNILAG) and the soon to be completed agreement with the University of Nigeria, Nsukka.
The CRFFN registrar expressed his expectation to have all freight forwarders duly registered and seen to have acquired the International Federation of Freight Forwarders Associations (FIATA) diploma in freight forwarding and Supply Chain Management by 2021.
He warned that freight forwarders who failed to comply with the new education transformation drive of the Council would be deregistered.
He announced that UNILAG and University of Nigeria, Nsukka would now start issuing Diploma in Freight Forwarding and Supply Chain Management as well as Higher Diploma in Supply Chain Management.
Nwakohu assured that the certificates would afford Nigerian freight forwarders the capacity to practice freight forwarding anywhere in the world.
He said the aim of the Council is to ensure that freight forwarding practitioners are educated and to ensure that in the nearest future no uncertified person would be in the profession.
Recall that , while speaking earlier last week at the signing of the memorandum of agreement with UNILAG, Nwakohu said the MoU and presentation of accreditation certificate was a seal of a partnership with UNILAG which started in 2017 with the Institute of Maritime Studies which hosts CRFFN training centre.
"In recognition of the provisions of the Act that set us up, you would find out that training is right at the top, it is a core mandate, and we are doing everything humanly possible to make sure that we shift the paradigm from a situation where freight forwarders are seen as not knowing what they are doing, to a situation where they are now seen as professionals"
"They call them 'clearing and forwarding', that is the customary name, but we call them freight forwarders, and we are telling the world today that we have a mandate to make sure that these people act as professionals, and how would they do that? It is by learning"
"In the nearest future, each and every freight forwarder would be qualified and they would be accredited to practice freight forwarding, this is our main objective"
"It is not just happening in UNILAG, we are going across the country, we are doing it for individuals and corporate bodies. The executives themselves would also have an opportunity to learn" Nwakohu said.
According to him, the reform of the sector will be amplified in no distance time when only those certified will be permitted to carry out the trade in Nigeria.
“The business is no longer going to be an all-comers affair. Diploma certificates will be awarded to trainees at the end of the course to enable people and the regulatory body differentiate professionals from quacks.
“The CRFFN Act is apt on professional conduct and training of practitioners and the present administration is bent on proactive reforms that will ensure positive change in the sector.
“We want a situation where freight forwarders like other professionals will be respected and reckoned with.”
He said the certification which would elapse after three years, was renewable after the person had undergone a refresher course to be in line with FIATA.
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